Yuriko Miyamoto

Novelist. Maiden name Nakajo, real name Yuri. Born on February 13, 1899 in Koishikawa, Tokyo, as the eldest daughter of famous architect Nakajo Seiichiro, she attended Ochanomizu High School and entered the preparatory course for English literature at Japan Women's University in 1916 (Taisho 5). That same year, she published "A Group of Poor People" in Chuokoron, dropped out of university and devoted herself to creative writing, publishing "The Sun Shines," "A Single Bud," "The Earth is Abundant," and other works in succession, earning her a reputation as a genius girl. In 1918, she traveled to the United States accompanied by her father, and studied abroad. The following year, she married Shigeru Araki, an older researcher of ancient Eastern languages, in New York, despite the objections of her parents and those around her. At the end of 1919, she returned to Japan, left her parents' home, and began living alone as a married couple, but in 1924 she divorced and began living with Yoshiko Yuasa, a scholar of Russian literature. Immediately after her divorce, she began writing a novel about the events that had taken place during that time, which was serialized in Kaizo, and published as a book, Nobuko, in 1928 (Showa 3). In December 1927, she traveled to the Soviet Union with Yuasa, and traveled throughout the Soviet Union and Europe. After returning to Japan in December 1930, she joined the Japan Proletarian Writers League.

Shortly after marrying Miyamoto Kenji in 1932, she was arrested and detained for the oppression of cultural groups, and Kenji went underground. From then on, she was arrested and detained for long periods every year, and in June 1936, she was convicted of violating the Peace Preservation Law and sentenced to two years in prison with four years of probation. During this time, she published critiques such as "Buds Surviving the Winter" (1934), "The Koiwai Family" (1934) and "Breasts" (1935), and played a role in supporting the movement, which continued to shift and retreat. At the end of 1937, she was banned from writing, but from around 1939, she continued to write energetically, writing critiques such as "Spirit for Tomorrow" (1940) and "The Course of Literature" (1941), and novels such as "Sugaki" (1939) and "The Fourth Sunday of March" (1940), becoming a beacon of intellectual conscience in a dark age. She was arrested and imprisoned in December 1941 and lost all freedom to write until Japan's defeat, but the 4,000 letters she wrote to her imprisoned husband during this time show the brilliance of the spirit of an intellectual during wartime (later published as "Twelve Years of Letters").

After the war, he was at the forefront of the democratic culture and literature movement, publishing novels such as "Banshu Plain" (1946-1947), "Two Gardens" (1947), and "Signpost" (1947-1950), as well as numerous essays such as "Singing Voice, Come!" (1946). He passed away on January 21, 1951.

[Izu Toshihiko]

"The Complete Works of Miyamoto Yuriko, 25 volumes, 2 supplementary volumes, 2 supplementary volumes (1979-1981, Shinnihon Shuppansha)" ▽ "The Pioneers of Wartime and Postwar, by Honda Shugo (1963, Shobunsha)" ▽ "Miyamoto Yuriko, edited by the Takiji and Yuriko Research Group (1976, Shinnihon Shuppansha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

小説家。旧姓中条、本名ユリ。明治32年2月13日、東京小石川に著名な建築家中条精一郎の長女として生まれ、お茶の水高女を経て1916年（大正5）日本女子大学英文科予科に入学した。この年『貧しき人々の群』を『中央公論』に発表、女子大を中退して創作活動に専心、『日は輝けり』『一つの芽生え』『地は饒(ゆたか)なり』などを相次いで発表し、天才少女の評判を得た。1918年、父に伴われて渡米し、留学生活を送り、翌年ニューヨークで年長の東洋古代語研究者荒木茂と、父母や周囲の反対を押し切って結婚した。1919年末帰国、父母の家を出て夫婦だけの生活を始めるが、1924年に離婚し、ロシア文学者湯浅芳子(ゆあさよしこ)と共同生活を始める。離婚直後から、この間の経緯を小説として書き進め、『改造』に連載し、1928年（昭和3）単行本『伸子(のぶこ)』を刊行した。1927年12月湯浅とともにソ連に赴き、ソ連各地およびヨーロッパ各地を旅行した。1930年12月に帰国後、日本プロレタリア作家同盟に加入した。

　1932年宮本顕治(けんじ)と結婚後まもなく、文化団体に対する弾圧のため検挙勾留され、顕治は地下活動に移った。以後、毎年長期間の検挙勾留を受ける生活が続き、1936年6月に治安維持法違反、懲役2年執行猶予4年の判決を受けた。この間に『冬を越す蕾(つぼみ)』（1934）などの評論や『小祝(こいわい)の一家』（1934）、『乳房』（1935）などを発表し、転向と後退が続く運動を支える役割を果たした。1937年末、執筆禁止となるが、1939年ごろから『明日への精神』（1940）、『文学の進路』（1941）などの評論、『杉垣(すぎがき)』（1939）、『三月の第四日曜』（1940）などの小説を精力的に書き続け、暗い時代の知的良心の灯(ともしび)となった。1941年12月に検挙投獄され、敗戦までまったく執筆の自由を失ったが、この間に獄中の夫に書き送った4000通に達する書簡は、戦時下知識人の精神の輝きを示している（のち『十二年の手紙』として刊行）。

　戦後は民主主義文化・文学運動の先頭にたち、『播州平野(ばんしゅうへいや)』（1946～1947）、『二つの庭』（1947）、『道標』（1947～1950）などの小説のほか、『歌声よおこれ』（1946）以下多数の評論を発表した。昭和26年1月21日没。

［伊豆利彦］

『『宮本百合子全集』25巻・別巻2・補巻2（1979～1981・新日本出版社）』▽『本多秋五著『戦時戦後の先行者たち』（1963・晶文社）』▽『多喜二・百合子研究会編『宮本百合子』（1976・新日本出版社）』

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